Jumping Off
by Ljiljana
Summary: It's been years since Naruto last saw Itachi's kid brother. Only Sasuke is not a kid any longer. gift-fic for madSanja Oneshot, yaoi


**Warning**: Just… Imagine Fugaku and Mikoto got married five years later and so Itachi is same age as Naruto and Sasuke is… younger. And in the request it was 'kissing and maybe some groping' so don't expect much. ;)

* * *

This little story is a gift for mad_sanja.

She wanted:

1. Younger, moody Sasuke *  
2. Public place, like a store or a gathering somewhere in nature *  
2. Quiz show (I believe…) /

Two of three, I guess….

* * *

Jumping Off

Sakura was driving them, because her car was in the best condition and also because she didn't believe for a moment that they would stay away from alcohol. Um. She was right about that one. It was supposed to be safer, but with the way she was cutting turns, they were in more danger than they would be if Naruto was dead drunk behind the wheel. Even Kiba was better, really. But Sakura insisted, so the two of them just grabbed the handles tightly and exchanged horrified looks whenever there was a car coming from the opposite side.

The three of them were on their way to the lake house. When they graduated from high school, a large group of people from their class rented that house and stayed there for a week after the prom. In the years that followed, it became a tradition for them to rent it at the same time every year and stay at that house for a while. It was fun, because with everyone going by their own ways, it was the only time they were getting to see each other.

"There's Itachi." Sakura said, slowing down _after_ she turned into the lane with the house at the other end of it. Naruto peered under his sunglasses. There _was_ someone on the terrace, but…

"That's not Itachi, that's Sasuke."

"What? No way. Sasuke's just a kid…." Sakura said, trying to see better on the guy and forgetting to watch where she was driving. Naruto wished he hadn't told her anything as he clutched at the handle harder. She wouldn't even notice if she drove them all directly into the lake.

"Hey!" Kiba yelled from behind. "I don't care if it's Jessica Alba in a bikini, _watch the road_!"

Sakura cast him a glare over her shoulder, and turned back just in time to avoid to crash them into a log that was lying not quite on the side of the lane.

"Well, I don't care if I can't see her." Kiba muttered. Relived that he avoided imminent death, he perked up. "Sasuke? Itachi's kid brother? The one who was following you around like a lost puppy, Naruto?"

Naruto shifted uncomfortably. Oh, yeah, he almost forgot about that. It was endearing in a way, Sasuke was always so… _tiny_. It was also dangerous, because Itachi had it in his head that Naruto was some kind of a pedophile and will use his fourteen year old brother as soon as he turned his back. So he was never turning his back… which didn't stop Sasuke from making eyes on Naruto. It was a horrible, uncomfortable mess.

Naruto glanced up to the terrace as Sakura struggled to park. Sasuke was sitting on his right calf on the wide banister, with the other leg hanging over the edge. He had a book in his hands, but he wasn't reading, he was looking down at them. There was no expression, his face was flat and disinterested; it could have as well been Itachi. Something deep inside Naruto mourned it.

"Well, he sure isn't a kid any longer." He muttered.

Kiba made a disgusted sound. "Oh, man, come on. Don't go and kill yourself now, you know Itachi would hate it if you tried something with his brother."

"I just said he's not a kid any longer." Naruto said - with a distantly defensive note. _Shit_.

"Yeah, well. No one would blame you if you tried something." Sakura said, finally turning the tortured engine off. "He's not a kid. And he looks good. And if he starts following you around again…"

"Shut up." Naruto advised her and got out of the car.

Sasuke wasn't up there any longer. He obviously wasn't in the mood to greet them. Moment later, though, Ino ran out and Sakura and she squeaked and gushed a lot. _Loudly_. Kiba was grinning as he opened the trunk. Naruto went to help him, eyeing the water with one eye and wondering when he would be able to grab a chance to swim some.

* * *

Itachi was sitting in the living room. It seemed that Ino and him were the only one from the class who had arrived. Sasuke was also sitting at the table, half turned away from the door.

"We survived!" Kiba announced to the room. "We survived two hours of Sakura behind the wheel! Someone gimme alcohol to wash down the experience!"

Naruto frightfully looked where Sakura was listening to something Ino was saying directly into her ear, but she seemed too busy to do anything but glare.

"Try the fridge." Itachi said, holding out his hand to him and then Naruto. On the other side of the table, Sasuke made small noise in his throat. Naruto had no idea what the hell that was supposed to be, but Itachi sighed and reached for his pocket. "Or my truck, I guess. I brought the kid so he wouldn't be all alone at home, but he's completely useless."

"I told you I won't carry your things." Sasuke snapped. "And I have no idea why you did expect me to do it in the first place."

"Gratitude. The death threats." Itachi answered calmly. "Whatever you prefer."

"Gratitude?" Sasuke repeated. "For what, for dragging me out here, to the middle of nowhere, to spend time with your moronic friends?"

Itachi narrowed his eyes on his little brother. "I remember the time when you didn't think all my friends were…"

"Whoa!" Naruto interrupted, waving his arms. Fucking Itachi, that's not something you can just say like that! "I'll take it out, whatever you have in there. Just – no fighting before I have a chance to try the water, okay? Stress drowns people."

Itachi was smirking. Naruto wanted to hit him. So the temptation would not win, he turned to Sasuke. "It's good to see you, kid." He said. He owed it to Sasuke to acknowledge that he was there, even if the kid wasn't… as Naruto remembered him.

"You too, gramps." Sasuke sneered. "Now run along to play the delivery boy. I want a drink, too."

Naruto opened his mouth, stuck between wanting to snap at him and just... stand there and gape.

"Adorable little thing, isn't he?" Itachi asked, standing up. He took Naruto for his forearm and yannked him toward the door. "Some days, I just want to sew his mouth shut."

"Er." Naruto let Itachi drag him outside, but he glanced back once. Sasuke peacefully opened his book and continued reading. "He's not quite as I remember him. You sure you don't have two brothers or something?"

Itachi smiled back at him. They were on their way to pick up things from his black jeep. "No, that's it, I'm afraid. Don't you miss the times when he just wanted to stare at you a lot?"

"No, but I'm starting to suspect I will miss the times when he was just keeping his mouth shut." Naruto answered, because _shit_. He was trying to be nice. Cocky little teenage boys. "You won't mind too much if I kill him next time he... does that?"

"Does what, talks?" Itachi laughed. "Shockingly enough, yeah, I would. But don't worry, it grows on you."

Naruto groaned, some from the weight of the bag Itachi gave him and some from the image. "Agrh, and now I'm thinking about the plants from the lake bottom that entangle around your feet, and then around your entire body and then they drag you underwater."

"That's not exactly what I meant…" Itachi answered under the weight of the rest of the stuff he was lifting from the trunk.

Naruto murmured something in response, trying to think about what he should do. This situation probably wasn't too pleasant for Sasuke, he was behaving… uh, rather embarrassingly the last time Naruto saw him. Probably best to go around his business and ignore the kid as much as possible.

Yeah, that sounded like a good plan.

***

The problem with that good plan was that, as it was pointed out several times already, Sasuke wasn't exactly a kid any longer. Which meant he didn't _look_ like a kid. He looked like…. Well, a gorgeous eighteen year old - that he, admittedly, was. That was good for him, but very bad when it came to Naruto's plan. You can't ignore someone when you can't really keep your eyes off of them.

Sakura laughed at him the very first evening, when Sasuke announced – after several fights with Itachi and Kiba and even a small one with Chouji - that he was tired and was going to sleep.

"Jesus, but this so funny! It's like watching a movie in which actors are having reversed roles! You're looking at him now like he was looking at you before!"

"Shut up." Naruto snapped at her. "I had alcohol and he's annoying."

That just served for her to laugh harder and attract attention of everyone else in the room. Fortunately, she didn't seem inclined to share her theory with them, so they went about their own conversations when they were waved off.

"Yeah, I bet he is. It's called 'sexual frustration', that annoyance you're feeling."

Naruto groaned. "Are you going to keep torturing me all night with this?"

"Yep." Sakura said. "Of course, you could escape and try to talk to him."

"Oh, I'm escaping." Naruto told her. "To my room, to use the absence of Kiba's snoring to catch some sleep."

"Yeah, I believe you!" Sakura yelled after him and snickered when he glared at her before closing he door. It was a big house, but they still had to share. Naruto was stuck with Kiba, which was good and normal. Kiba was his best friend. Somewhere he hadn't managed to determine yet, Itachi and Sasuke were sleeping. Shikamaru and Chouji were sleeping just across from the bathroom. And Sakura and Ino were on the other side of the house. There was less and less of them gathering every summer, but someone might come the next day anyway. It's not as if they had a schedule or anything.

Naruto took his toiletries and headed for the bathroom. He could hear the water running inside, so he waited. It was Sasuke inside, but Naruto half expected that, so he tried to ignore him and just slip inside when the door opened.

But Sasuke narrowed his eyes when he saw Naruto. "Are you following me around now?"

Yeah, Sasuke really wasn't helping the entire 'just ignore him' plan. In any way. "Sure, what else I would be doing in front of the bathroom?" Naruto answered, letting sarcasm take away as much of his annoyance as possible.

"Well," Sasuke answered, tossing his wet towel over his shoulder. It gave Naruto the perfect view on his slim form in pajama bottoms and simple while shirt. "It doesn't _smell_ like you know what bathrooms are for. But that's alright, I'm sure the housebreaking will work eventually."

Alright, so that was it. The kid was a real jerk. Naruto put blindly his toiletry bag on the drawer chest nearby as he stepped closer to Sasuke, forcing him to retreat a little to the bathroom.

"You are taking it a little bit too far." He said, keeping voice low and steady, even though Sasuke's nearness affected him a great deal. "I've been nothing but nice to you."

"I don't want you to be nice to me." Sasuke hissed back. "I want you to stay away from me."

"We are staying at the same house, so I really can't see how that would be possible." Naruto's brain informed him that he was close enough and that Sasuke had no place to retreat further, but he stepped closer anyway. "So be a nice little boy, okay?"

Sasuke glared at him, raising his chin a little. "I'm not a little boy."

No, he really wasn't a little boy. And Naruto had the mad urge to just press him further against the wall and kiss until that hard, annoyed look melted. But Sasuke didn't look like he was going to go along with it, and even if he did… Itachi still might be upset. So Naruto stepped away to let Sasuke pass him to the exit.

"No, I guess you're not." He murmured as Sasuke pushed next to him, carefully avoiding collision. It caused the boy to stop in place, and Naruto almost groaned aloud when he realized Sasuke was suppressing a shiver.

"Naruto?" Sasuke said, not looking at him but outside through he open door.

"Yeah?" Naruto breathed. Sasuke was taller then him, he realized. And his damp hair looked silky and soft, and his cheek and neck were flushed and _fuck_ Itachi, if Naruto only moved a little bit…

But Sasuke snapped, annoyed probably more with himself than with Naruto, "Nothing." He walked out and closed the door behind him without looking back.

Naruto sighed and hid his face in his hands. That little exchange now left him more frustrated than months of abstinence would.

***

But it served something, the bathroom encounter. Sasuke wasn't talking to Naruto at all. In fact, he was ignoring Naruto completely, and he was doing a much better job of it than Naruto could ever hope to do. The kid was, without slipping once, refusing to be anywhere near him, refusing to look in his direction and refusing to respond or acknowledge in any way if Naruto tried to speak to him.

It was much worse than having him insult Naruto at every word.

"Alright." Itachi said finally, around the noon on the second day. "What have you done to him?"

He didn't seem angry, more like… curious, with his sunglasses lifted just enough to look down where Naruto was laying in the sun on his towel.

Naruto played dumb. "Huh?"

"Don't give me that crap." Itachi snorted. "People get the silent treatment only when they piss him off seriously. What did you do?"

Naruto gave up. "Told him to be nice."

"I don't think that would do the trick." Itachi said suspiciously.

"I didn't say anything else." Naruto insisted. "I guess he just doesn't like me."

Itachi snorted again. "Yeah, right."

He stood up and after a short moment of standing in Naruto's sun, he turned to go. Okay, so there was no warning off, no death threats. That was good – or it would have been good if Naruto hadn't started to think that he misinterpret things and read Sasuke wrongly in the bathroom. Maybe there were some leftovers from whatever was it that the kid was feeling years ago, maybe it flattered him a little when he felt Naruto's interest. But with the hundred percent efficient ignoring he was enduring since… Maybe that was what Sasuke needed to move on. Or _something_.

Naruto sighed and turned to lie on his stomach. Just a few more minutes and he will go back to water again.

***

That afternoon, Sai arrived. He was the last one, there was no one else. It was the sad truth, their gatherings were dying away. Well, but they were there and at the moment, it was important to make the most out of that. They were laughing more than ever and they were drinking a lot. The water in the lake was warmer than ever, considering that it was only June.

Sai asked about Naruto's ex in the middle of the crowded living room and made him very uncomfortable. Shit, but who likes to talk about being cheated on? Naruto gritted out something in response and just couldn't help it, he had to glace to where Sasuke was writing postcards. He wasn't looking curiously at Naruto like everyone else, but his hand was still, just like his gaze seemed glued on one spot in front of him. Was he upset? Naruto couldn't tell for sure.

Ino changed the subject quickly.

***

When on the shore, Sasuke tended to stay in the shadows. Practical reasons, no doubt, but it always left him somehow… out of everything. But it was leaving his skin flawlessly white. Naruto caught himself resting his eyes on it too many times. No one ever told him a thing or warned him about it, they must have gotten used to it already.

With time, though, probably because Sasuke seemed lonely, they all started to spread their things much closer to the shades of the tree line that was following the small rocky beach.

"Geez, man." Kiba said on the second afternoon. He was watching somewhere over the lake, protecting his eyes with his hand. "I can't believe you jumped off there. I still can't believe it, you must be insane."

Naruto laughed, casting a glance over the lake himself. The rock Kiba was talking about was not only high, but on the side of the lake they didn't know well. He jumped from it on their first time renting the house, when he was young and reckless. It was a very dangerous and very stupid thing to do.

"You jumped off that rock?" Naruto turned, so startled that Sasuke was actually talking to him that he forgot to answer for a second. "How did it feel?"

The eagerness in Sasuke's voice woke him up. "Like suicide."

Sasuke glared as Kiba, the ignorant mutt, said. "That's not what you said then, you said it was the greatest thrill in your…"

Keeping his eyes locked with Sasuke's smug ones, Naruto snapped at Kiba, "I was a stupid kid."

He was trying to make Sasuke see it – he _was_ a stupid kid, and Sasuke should be smarter than that. It was a dangerous place. But Sasuke just smirked and leaned back. Naruto had a really bad feeling about it.

***

He was careful all day long, making sure Sasuke was in his sight. There were snickers on his behavior, but who was giving the shit. He couldn't try to talk Sasuke out of jumping, because Sasuke never said he intended to do it. Naruto relaxed only when the night started falling.

With Sai around, it was even more fun. He was just so amusing when he wasn't completely sober, saying weird and M rated things. They were all sitting around the couch and armchairs in the living room, laughing on Sai's description of his part time job boss. Naruto recovered from laughter induced cramps and glanced around in what, he realized, was becoming a habit to check on what Sasuke was doing.

Only Sasuke wasn't anywhere in sight.

"Where's your brother?" He demanded of Itachi without thinking.

A couple of people laughed. Naruto ignored him when Itachi just shrugged. He was too worried.

"You're pathetic!" Kiba yelled at him as Naruto walked quickly out. He checked Sasuke's room and the bathroom. He was on the edge of panic when he rushed through the hall, when he caught a movement through the open door of the kitchen.

Naruto halted. He didn't really believe it, but there was a possibility… He turned the direction and rushed to the kitchen. On his enormous relief, his entrance startled Sasuke out of the fridge.

"Oh, fuck, thank God." Naruto said, putting his hand on his forehead. "You scared the crap out of me."

Sasuke let the refrigerator close, the look in his eyes between curiosity and stubbornness. It danced in his eyes for a bit as he held Naruto's gaze until the curiosity won. "Why?"

"I thought you left down to the lake."

"What?" Sasuke said and laughed when he connected things. "What do you think - that I'm some stupid kid?"

Naruto calmed down slowly. God, he was so stupid. But he was so sure for whatever reason that Sasuke would try to jump off that rock. The look in his eyes that afternoon on the beach felt daring. Only maybe, just _maybe_, it wasn't that kind of daring…

"Something like that." Naruto muttered, feeling ridiculous.

"I'm not." Sasuke informed him – yet again. The kitchen was huge, so Naruto blinked in confusion when he realized that Sasuke was much closer. It was even more confusing when he realized that he was the one who moved.

"Yeah, I know." He said.

Sasuke's face grew serious, maybe a little nervous. He left the milk he was holding on the counter behind him. Naruto took several more steps forward, stopping only when he was standing directly in front of Sasuke.

"I wouldn't do that." Sasuke said. Then, he snorted very lightly. "Not at night, anyway."

"You won't try to do it at all." Naruto informed him.

Sasuke leaned on the refrigerator behind him and wiped his palms of his shirt, giving out the impression of someone very nervous. He sneered anyway, "Really?"

Naruto effortlessly conquered that little space Sasuke managed by leaning forward. He was so close, his nose was almost brushing over Sasuke's. "Yeah."

Sasuke swallowed and cocked his head. His eyes lost their usual sharpness. It was a fascinating thing to watch. "I'm not a kid, Naruto."

Hearing Sasuke's voice, soft but spiteful, from so close, and that way he said Naruto's name…. God, but Naruto was only human, if you are willing to accept that oldest of all excuses.

"Ohh, I know that." Naruto groaned lightly, "_Trust me_, I know that."

He meant to lean in and kiss, there was nothing that would have stopped him at that point, noting at all… But Sasuke was quicker. He grabbed Naruto's sides and pulled him swiftly forward, so their faces, their mouths met half-way. Sasuke produced a noise when Naruto used his tongue right away to stroke his, in the exact way he was imagining for days - though he never expected to taste milk - and it was a whine. That was the only way to describe it. Sasuke arched until they were as close as possible, until they were not moving against each other, but as one.

The kiss was very potent and it lasted for some time. Sasuke then shifted, so Naruto could feel exactly how much he was injoying that little encounter. They both groaned when Sasuke's erection pressed into Naruto's hip, and if he just turned a little bit to the side and they would…

...And of course, someone cleared their throat from the door.

Sasuke let Naruto break the kiss only to murmur. "Tell them to piss the fuck off."

Murmur against his mouth turned into the slow, wet kiss over Naruto's chin and his neck, so without opening his eyes, he snapped over his shoulder. "Piss off."

Sasuke was using his teeth, and Naruto didn't care one bit about marking as he titled his head to the side, almost forgetting the person at the door.

Itachi is not someone who's exactly easy to ignore. "Well, I can't say I didn't see it coming for years, but could you please take it out of the kitchen?"

"Go away." Sasuke groaned, his fingers digging deep into Naruto's flesh, like he was afraid Itachi would take him away. Naruto, who's arms were around him - one holding Sasuke against him and the other resting lightly over his ass, gathered him even closer.

"We have an actual use for the refrigerator. And I need to use it now." Itachi said.

Naruto whispered in Sasuke's ear. "Come on."

"No." Sasuke said.

Naruto laughed. It was fucking adorable, that's what it was. That's what Sasuke was. He found Sasuke's hand with his own an entangled their fingers together before pulling him to move. "Just until the first empty room we can find, I promise."

Sasuke gave a venomous glare to Itachi, but he followed. Naruto also glanced at Itachi, who was looking back at them with his eyebrow raised. Then he pulled Sasuke to follow him again and there was no resistance at all when they walked through the door together.

***

That was the gathering Naruto had the most fun on, even with so little of his friends around. Next summer… Next summer it might turn into a much more private get-together.


End file.
